Chris Wakelin described beating Ding Junhui in China as what dreams are made of, after defeating the home hero 5-3 in front of a vocal crowd at the Wuhan Open.
Wakelin was competing against Ding on Chinese soil for the first time in his career. However, recent times have seen the Rugby cueman become more accustomed to performing on snooker's grandest stages.
Last year Wakelin secured maiden ranking silverware at the Shoot Out and was runner-up to Judd Trump at the Northern Ireland Open. He also made it to the semi-finals of the recent English Open, where he again lost to Trump. Awaiting in tomorrow's quarter-finals is another meeting with the Ace in the Pack.
Defeat for 14-time ranking event winner Ding means he will have to continue his wait for a first full format title since the 2019 UK Championship.
After Ding took the opening frame with a break of 69, Wakelin blitzed clear with back-to-back century runs of 128, 139 and 132. That left the Englishman 3-1 ahead at the mid-session.
When play resumed, Ding hit back with a break of 87, but it was Wakelin who made 92 in the sixth to lead 4-2. It had looked as if Wakelin had got himself over the line in the seventh when he left Ding needing snookers, but a critical in-off allowed his opponent an opportunity to steal by a point on the black and he obliged. Wakelin didn't linger on that moment and recovered to win the next and secure a famous 5-3 win.
"It was my first time playing Ding out here and that was some atmosphere. Obviously the crowd really wanted him to win and when it went close they got behind him. I thrived on it out there. When I first walked out, I thought I would have crumbled and a couple of years back that is what would have happened. To play like I did, on such a big stage, against the God of snooker here in China, is what dreams are made of."
Chris Wakelin
World Number 22
Wakelin added: "I just believe in myself now. The results over the last couple of years have given me the confidence to go into these sorts of situations and have belief that the game is there. The biggest thing for me wasn't the three centuries on the trot, it was the last frame. He missed a red in the middle and given what happened before, I came to the table unsure about how I was feeling. When I got motoring through the balls I was confident I was going to get over the line.
"Every single player on tour is capable of playing like that, but to do it on the big stage is something that I've not been capable of. I've not had the temperament and the belief to stand there and knock in three centuries on the trot in front of Ding and a home crowd in China. That is a massive moment for me and it will give me a lot of confidence going forward."
Zhang Anda came through a nerve shredding clash with Mark Joyce 5-4, by the barest of margins. The final frame came down to a re-spotted black, where Joyce first missed his chance before Zhang deposited the black to the left middle to seal victory. He now plays Si Jiahui, who defeated Duane Jones 5-2.
Xiao Guodong emerged a 5-2 victor against Barry Hawkins. That sets up a quarter-final clash with 2005 World Champion Shaun Murphy.